Time that Remains
by sammysmissingshoe
Summary: The dead are restless. So restless in fact, that they are rising and killing their loved ones. Is it going to be that simple when the boys come across someone from their past? (Not an OC). There's more to the case, and the story, than you think. T because Winchesters will be Winchesters, and bad guys will be bad guys.
1. Don't Let Your Demons Drive

AN: So this idea has been nagging on me for about two or three months, and I'm finally starting it! I ended up changing the title about ten times before I finally decided on this one. Comes from a Three Days Grace (my other boys, besides my Supernatural ones) song, Time That Remains.

* * *

Another shot from the glass, and the cool relief of the liquor rushed down Anthony's throat. In the other hand, he held the picture of his beautiful, but recently late wife.

Her brown eyes made him think of the colour when a ray of sun would hit a glass of whiskey, much like the one he was holding now. Her bright smile was starting to become the only thing he could make out, as the constant drinks began to blur his vision.

Anthony brought the picture up to his lips, and laid a gentle kiss to the photograph. "I'm so sorry, Molly." He whispered to it. A small teardrop landed on the picture as his precious memories of her flooded in. "I love you."

A strong rush of wind tore the photograph from his shaking hands.

"_Wind? I'm in my living room!"_

The sudden flickering of lights began to give Anthony the feeling of a hangover.

"Damn landlord." He mumbled angrily, as he got up to make his way to the fuse box.

His trembling fingers fumbled to make sense of the wires and switches, when the flickering abruptly stopped.

A sigh of both frustration and relief passed Anthony's lips. When Anthony turned around again, the first and last thing he saw were whiskey brown eyes.

* * *

"C'mon, Sammy." Dean whined from behind the Impala's wheel. "We just finished up the last case, why we gotta dive right into another one?"

"Because people are dying." Sam said in a "matter of fact" tone.

Dean huffed. "I'm just saying, if we're gonna jump in on something this soon, shouldn't we be trying to track down Crowley?"

"This one's got zombies."

Dean briefly looked away from the road and met Sam's gaze with wide eyes. "Zombies, huh?"

"Mm-hmm." Sam said with a smirk.

"Tell me more."

"Thought that might get your attention. So, up in Oak Run, Illinois there've been a bunch of murders, the most recent being some guy named Anthony Tigre-" Sam was interrupted by Dean's chuckle. "What?"

"Anthony Tigre? No way that guy didn't grow up as Tony the Tigre."

Sam rolled his eyes as he spoke. "Hilarious, Dean. Anyway, one neighbour heard screaming and went to check on him. Here's where it gets weird. When they opened the door, they swear up and down that his wife was standing over the body."

"Why's that weird? Wait, let me guess, the wife's dead?" Dean asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yup, died in a car accident a few weeks ago. There's been witnesses to every murder and they all said that a dead loved one was at the scene."

"So someone's waking the dead. Why?"

Sam shrugged. "Guess we'll have to find out."

The Impala's engine roared as Dean increased the gas. "Let's go stake some zombies!"

* * *

"I'm really getting tired of going over this." The squeaky voiced man said as he pushed his dark locks from his thick lenses.

"_And I'm getting tired of people saying that every single time we do this." _Dean thought, becoming easily agitated, more so than usual due to the fact that he was currently wearing those cheap suits he hated so much.

Sam's authoritative, yet calm voice brought Dean's focus back where it should be. "I know this must be hard, Mr.…"

"Collier. Kurt Collier." The man finished.

"Mr. Collier. But we really need your help, so anything you can tell us helps, not matter how strange it sounds."

Kurt looked down somberly, and Sam felt for him, he really did. The poor guy probably thinks he's gone insane, and no doubt he has other people telling him the same thing.

A long tired sigh passed Kurt's chapped lips. "Okay, fine." There was a long pause, and Dean could see the mild annoyance in Kurt's eyes be replaced with a mix of grief and horror.

"Well," He began. "I was in my room reading, when suddenly I heard screaming… A lot of it…" His eyes lowered and he started nervously twiddling his thumbs.

"Take your time Mr. Collier." Sam comforted.

"_Yeah, take your time, like how Sam took his sweet ass time getting me out of Purgatory." _Dean couldn't stop the spiteful thought. He distracted himself with a different one. _"And it's not like lives are at stake or anything." _

After a few moments of silence, Kurt collected himself. "Once I started hearing- that- I ran out to check on him. Anthony, that is. I didn't bother knocking, I just- I barged right in, and that's when-…" Kurt swallowed, and took a shuddering breath. "I saw her." His voice was nearly inaudible.

"Her who?" Dean finally spoke up.

Kurt's pain filled eyes met Dean's. "Molly, his wife. She was-" He swallowed again as though he was choking down bile. "She was holding his heart is her hands. How- how is that possible?"

"Can you think of any reason Molly would have wanted to hurt him?"

Pain in Kurt's face was replaced with confusion. "She's dead! Why the hell would that matter?"

"Please, we're just trying any angle we can. Can you think of anything?" Sam asked in the gentle voice that could coax a confession out of an innocent man.

Kurt huffed. "No, they were newlyweds. Still had that whole 'nothing could ever separate us' 'love you more than words' thing going on."

"Okay, thank you. One last question, did you notice anything strange after that?" Sam asked.

"You mean besides my neighbour slaughtering her husband?" He spat out, wishing that everything could be some sort of demented dream. "I guess, there is one thing."

"What is it?" Dean inquired hastily.

"There was this girl. No older than sixteen. Saw her trying to break into the house after the cops left."

That wasn't an answer either of the Winchesters had been expecting.

"A girl?" Dean repeated.

"Yeah, didn't get a good look at her though. I shouted something, and she ran off."

Before Dean could ask anything further, Sam cut him short. "Alright. Thank you for your time. Call us if you notice anything else."

Once they were out of Kurt's view, Dean smacked Sam's arm.

"Ow! The hell was that for?" Sam griped.

"We should have asked him more about the chick trying to break in."

"He said he didn't see anything else. What's so important about the girl? Could just be some teenager out on a dare, or something stupid like that."

"Or it could be some teenager screwing around with zombies, or something stupid like that."

Sam's eyebrows knitted. "You think a kid is behind all this?"

"Kids are messed up." Dean deadpanned. "We've seen them do all sorts of crazy crap before."

"Kinda hoping you're wrong about it though."

"Let's get ourselves a room before we try to find her. Then maybe we could grab some food."

Sam rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "Of course that's where your mind is right now."

"If the zombies are getting a snack, then why can't I?"

Although he was disturbed, Sam couldn't help but smile. "Ugh, dude that's just gross."

After driving with more zombie jokes and outdated music, they finally pulled in front of a hotel. Dean dropped Sam off at the front desk where Sam set off to get their room, while Dean parked the car.

The check in woman was rather beautiful. Dean would have hit on her if he was around. Eyes the colour of the Caribbean were hidden behind a strand of sun yellow hair. Her coral lips revealed shining white teeth as she spoke.

"Are you Alyssa's father?"

Sam's small analysis of her ended. "Who?"

"Oh, sorry, I thought you might be him."

"Him who?"

"Uh, I don't think I should say. Privacy reasons and everything."

Sam flashed his fake badge. "FBI. Now, who's Alyssa?"

The woman chewed her lip and answered reluctantly. "She's been here a few weeks. Normally I wouldn't have given a room to someone so young without a guardian, but she keeps promising that her dad is coming."

"Was she here around the time of the murders?"

Concern filled her blue eyes. "She's- she's not in some kind of trouble is she?"

"_Not yet." _"No, we, my partner and I, are looking for witnesses. Could you please tell me where I can find her?"

Sam watched the hesitation appear on her face. "Room 24."

Sam nodded. "Thank you. Oh, and I'll be needing a room."

Pocketing the keys to their recently acquired room, Sam rushed outside to see Dean sitting in the Impala.

"Dude, where were you?"

Dean shrugged. "Here. Didn't feel like having some old lady ask us if we wanted one bed."

"Actually she was kind of cute."

"Oh, of friggin course she was." Dean grumbled. Winchester luck strikes again.

"But, Dean, I think I found our mystery girl."

"The one Kurt saw outside Anthony's house?"

"Think so. She got here alone a few weeks ago and has been holed up in the hotel ever since."

Dean reached over to his glove box and stuck his gun in his waistband. Sam stared at it for a moment.

"Really think you're gonna have to use it?"

Dean shrugged again. "Can't be too careful."

As nonchalantly as possible, the brothers approached room 24. The whole time Dean was wishing that this could be over soon, so that they could track down Crowley's irritating ass. After being in Purgatory for so long, Dean had been less hesitant of killing things that got in his way.

Sam was just wishing that the kid had had nothing to do with the case. Due to his being away from hunting for such a long time and finally learning how to settle down, his once always abundant compassion had returned after a few years of absence.

Sam and Dean shared a look before Sam knocked on the door. They heard shuffling from behind the door, followed by a young voice. "Who is it?"

Dean took over this time. "FBI, we've got some questions for you."

There was no response for seemingly a very long time, before they heard the click of a latch unlocking. Chocolate brown eyes, almost familiar ones, eyed both the brothers, hidden behind a fallen lock of dark brown hair pulled back into a sturdy ponytail.

"Sam? Dean?"

Both the brother's eyes widened. "Do we know you?"

The girl nodded. "It's me. It's Sari."

* * *

Holy crap that was a long intro. Sorry if I seemed to kind of drag in spots, I was just trying to get the story moving along a little quicker, so I could get to the good stuff. Explanations and action are coming soon! I'm nearly done with the second chapter already, so I might have it posted later today. I say today because I ended up getting this thing up after midnight. Aaaand, now I'm rambling… Drop me a review if you've got the time. See y'all soon!


	2. They'll Just Steer You Wrong

AN: Okay, technically I posted this a day after I had planned, but it's literally five minutes after midnight, so it's close enough. I planned on having a little more action this chapter, but I guess someone hit the "playful banter and obnoxiously long explanations" switch in my brain, so this just sorta happened. But rest assured, there's still action in this one. And shout out to reannablue and MoonlitShadowsoftheHumanSoul, thanks for the reviews guys!

* * *

_Previously:_

"_Sam? Dean?"_

_Both the brothers' eyes widened. "Do we know you?"_

_The girl nodded. "It's me. It's Sari."_

* * *

"Sari?" Dean repeated. "Sari who?"

Sam's mind sparked in a whirlwind. _"Back home, back to Kansas." "It's attracted a poltergeist, a nasty one." Missouri's voice echoed in his head. _

"_Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back!" _

"Holy crap." Sam said on a breath of realization.

"'Holy crap' what, Sam? You wanna explain what's going on here?"

"The- the poltergeist, back at our house in Kansas like, seven years ago. The little girl."

"Yeah, uh, not that little anymore, and standing right here." Sari butted in.

Dean's brain finally clicked into place. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, well I've been having a rough year, so I decided to mediate around all the corn." She rolled her eyes. "What do you think I'm doing here?"

"You- you're not…" Sam stammered. "You're not hunting are you?"

"I sure as hell am." Sari stated as she raised a brow, and crossed her arms.

"Why?" The brothers said in unison. Sam's brow furrowed in confusion. "You had a life, why would you choose to do this?"

Sari scoffed. "You think I wanted to do this? Every night I would pray to forget everything I saw that night only to be plagued with nightmares every single time. Did you honestly think that I could ever forget something like that? I had to find out monsters were real by almost getting killed by one. There's no letting that go."

Nightmares were no strangers to the Winchesters. Even before they began hunting, their dreams were haunted with horrors no child should ever witness.

There was a long pause before Sam spoke. "Believe me, I'd give anything to not to have you go through that, but how did you even get into hunting?"

The despair left Sari's eyes, and was replaced with an almost eager gleam. "Funny story, actually. My freshman year of high school I was talking with this girl Antonia, and when I told her my name, she said it was from her favourite book."

The brothers' faces switched to grimaces, and paled at the same time. "Lemme guess," Dean said snidely. "The Supernatural series?"

"So you know about them?"

Sam scoffed this time. "Yeah. We've heard of them."

A hint of a smile crept on Sari's face for the first time since they'd arrived. "Naturally, once I heard about the main characters, I just had to read them. I gotta say, when I came across, "Home" it was pretty weird. Do you have any idea how creepy it is to read about yourself?"

"I've got a pretty good idea." Dean remarked.

"Wait a sec, freshman year? How old are you, Sari?"

Sari looked offended. "Why's that matter?"

"How old are you?"

Sari took a long breath. "Fifteen."

Sam's eyes widened. "You can't be hunting that young, Sari." The hypocrisy of that statement was borderline funny. "Hell, you shouldn't be hunting at all."

The sweetness left Sari's young face. "I don't need you pitying me, Sam. This isn't a bad thing. Why do you guys do this? To save people, right?" She didn't bother waiting for a response. "That's what I'm doing too. I help people, just like you guys helped me. What's so wrong about that?"

Neither of the brothers could think of a logical argument besides them hating to see kids get caught up in this crap. Sam finally found one. "But you have a family. Why would you leave them?"

"I didn't leave anybody, Sam. My mom knows exactly what I'm doing, Hell, she waves me off every time the bus or train leaves the station."

Dean spoke up this time. "How is she okay with this?"

"You guys saved our lives. My mom understands that I'm helping people, she can't really give a good reason to stop me."

"How about the fact that you could get yourself killed?"

"What's my life matter if I know what's going on out there, but I don't do a single thing to stop it? Look guys, I get that you don't want to see me doing this, but there's no talking me out of this. And there's no ending my nightmares."

"What about your brother?" Sam asked with his sweet eyes glistening.

"Richie? What about him?"

"How much does he know about what you do?"

Sari shook her head as she answered. "Nothing. And he's never going to. He doesn't need to know about any of this. He, and everyone else I love, are the reasons I do this. I'm not just protecting them from what's out there, I'm protecting them from the truth."

Dean hated himself for saying it, because he knew it would remind Sam of Jessica. Even after all these years, her name still left a pain in Sam's heart that would never heal. "Sari, when you hide this crap from people, that's when they get hurt. You can't keep them in the dark forever."

"I'll tell him when, or if I think he's ready. That's my choice to make as his big sister."

That remark gave Dean a pang of guilt. Every day he would look at Sam, and feel the shame of having told Sam the truth. Ever since that day, the light in Sam's eyes had never shined quite as bright.

"Guys, we could have this argument forever, but remember what we all came here for. How about we kill whatever the hell it is this time, and then you can lecture me till your tongues or my ears fall off. Deal?"

Although Sam knew Dean was about to protest, he agreed. "Deal."

Dean threw his hands in the air. "Fine! Why the hell not?"

Sam grabbed his brother's shoulders in an attempt to calm him down. "Dean, she's clearly not gonna let this go."

"Damn right I'm not."

Sam glared momentarily. "Not helping. But, Dean, it's better if she's with us than off on her own."

Dean huffed a long sigh, knowing his brother was right. "Alright, fine. What have you got so far, Sari?"

A tiny smirk of victory made a brief appearance on Sari's lips. "I checked out all of the houses, except for that Anthony guy's. Some guy started screaming at me, so I ran off."

"Good thing." Dean chuckled. "Otherwise we woulda found you sitting in a cell."

"How did you guys find me anyway?"

"Cuz you kinda suck at covering your tracks."

"Yeah… I need to work on that…"

"Tell you what, you make it through this, and I'll teach you."

Sari's smirk came back. "Thought you were gonna talk me out of hunting."

"Won't have to if you learn how to do it right." Dean said with a smile.

For the first time ever, they heard Sari laugh. "That a promise, Dean?"

Dean smiled turned into a satisfied smirk. "Promise."

"Thanks, Dean, I'd appreciate it. Anyway, back to the case. I checked out all the other houses and I couldn't find anything. Well," her expression switched to a cringe. "Besides blood anyway. But there was no EMF, or traces of sulfur."

"Witnesses didn't give us much either." Sam confirmed. "All they saw were the dead killing their loved ones. And none of them seemed to have a reason to be."

"So, "Dean added. "We were thinking someone, or something's gotta be raising 'em and pulling the strings."

"Anything connecting the vics yet?" Sari asked.

Sam shook his head. "We were kinda hoping you might've had something on that."

Sari mimicked Sam's gesture. "Nada. I hoped on getting something when I went to Anthony's but…"

"Yeah, got caught." Dean finished for her. "How about we all check on the house once it gets dark?"

"Sounds like a plan."

* * *

"Guns can't kill zombies." Sari whispered, as they sneaked towards the house. "Why the hell are we bringing guns?"

"One," Dean explained in a stern, but calm tone. "We might get lucky enough not to run into any." He was cut off by Sam's scoff. "What?"

"You've definitely just doomed us all."

"Shut up, Sam. Two, no matter what it is, it'll always move a hell of a lot slower with some lead in its kneecaps."

"What if we run into whoever's behind this?"

"I redirect your attention to the gun."

Sari froze in her tracks. "You're gonna kill a human being?"

"Only if we can't convince them to stop what they're doing." Sam stepped in. "That's the job, Sari. It sucks, but sometimes people die. If you're really gonna stick with this, you gotta accept that."

Sari's shoulders went up and down on a weary sigh. "Yeah, I know… Okay, final question."

"What?" Sam asked.

Even in the dark, Sam could still make out her playful smile. "What's up with your hair?"

Sari caught a taste of the infamous Sam Winchester bitchface. "What's wrong with my hair?"

Sari and Dean snickered. "Oh, nothing. Just that I'm pretty sure that it's not FBI regulation. You should get it cut before it gets you in trouble."

The bitchface stayed. "Thanks, Sari."

Sam ignored their giggle fit, and approached the porch of the house. His dark adjusted eyes found the lock on the door, and his steady fingers twisted with the lock pick in hand, until there was the distinct sound of the door unlocking. His hand gripped the cool metal knob, and he slowly opened the door with a slight creak. He entered the house, promptly followed by Sari and Dean, and that was when the smell of blood hit them.

Blood wasn't an unfamiliar sight to any of them, but that didn't mean they had to like it. The trio brought their jacket sleeves up to their noses, trying to dull the stench, while their other hands held their weapons. Sam and Dean each carried their favourite guns while Sari, after a hell of an argument, had settled on a machete. It was quite a sight to see someone so young holding something so harsh and unforgiving.

In a hushed voice, Dean ordered, "Sari, you and me take the upstairs. Sam, you take the basement. We'll meet back on the main floor."

Sari and Sam nodded in agreement and set off.

Upstairs, Sari and Dean stepped as lightly as possible so as not to alert anyone, if anyone was even around, of their presence. They couldn't help the number of times that the floorboards creaked beneath their feet.

Once they arrived at the top of the steps, Dean silently instructed them to take different rooms. Dean knew that nothing could really happen to her twenty feet away from him. Well, he thought so anyway.

Across the hall, Dean heard a crash followed by a groan.

"Sari?!" Dean threw caution to the wind, and rushed towards the sound. "Sari!"

Too many memories of going through this exact situation with Sam started flooding Dean's mind. He hated the idea of his baby brother being hurt more than civilians, but his protective streak burst like a shattered dam as he ran to Sari.

The sight of Sari lying unconscious on the floor was nothing compared to the woman hovering over her.

It was clear that she used to be beautiful with long flowing hair, but it was now caked with dried blood and limbs bent at unnatural angles, like someone from a car wreck.

"Molly." Dean realized on a whisper.

Her head whipped towards him, along with flecks of fresh blood. Molly's eyes were pleading.

"Help me." She begged. "I- I can't control myself!"

"Okay, just- calm down. Talk to me, who's controlling you?"

"I- I don't know. All I remember was a cloud of black smoke." She flicked her wrist and Dean was pinned to the wall in response, as her eyes turned black. The innocence left her eyes as she grinned maliciously. "Surprise! Really had you going for a while there, didn't I?"

Dean scowled. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immund-" A hand clamped over his mouth, and the demon shook her head.

"You talk too much." Keeping her grip on his mouth she pulled his head forward, and then slammed it back repeatedly, relishing in the way his eyes would become glassier with each blow. At last, his eyes drifted shut.

Frantic footsteps neared the door, which meant Sam was on his way. The second there was the smallest glimpse of him, she flicked her wrist again and smiled as his six foot four frame tumbled into the wall opposite of the door.

Sam groaned as he mustered up enough of his strength in order to begin standing. He managed to make out three figures, two on the floor, _"Dean, Sari." _his mind raced, while the third figure loomed over him with eyes black as coal.

"Exorcizam-" His breath was stolen from him as a dead cold hand constricted around his windpipe.

'Molly' shook her head. "Guess it runs in the family. Do head injuries run in the family too?" She leaned Sam's head towards her and smashed him against the wall, adding to the pain already left from the first blow. "Oh." She giggled. "Those were from me." Sam's head thudded against the wall until the plaster began to crack beneath the constant abuse. As she allowed him to fall to the floor a trail of dark red followed him down.

Her host's bright teeth glistened as she smiled. "This is gonna be fun."

* * *

Cliffhanger. Not even sorry… Okay, maybe a little sorry. I'll apologize by beating up our boys some more next chapter. *Shameful face* What?...


	3. You Won't Get Out Alive

For the record, you guys are either going to hate Sari, or me for what happens here. And sorry I was a little slow getting this chapter up. Final one though, and it's got some hurt!boys. I tried to balance the hurt, but Sam usually takes the brunt of the abuse in my stories. Even though I'm a Sam girl, this whole chapter is very Dean focused.

* * *

_Previously:_

_"Exorcizam-" His breath was stolen from him, as a dead cold hand constricted around his windpipe._

_'Molly' shook her head. "Guess it runs in the family. Do head injuries run in the family too?" She leaned Sam's head towards her and smashed him against the wall, adding to the pain already left from the first blow. "Oh." She giggled. "Those were from me." Sam's head thudded against the wall until the plaster began to crack beneath the constant abuse. As she allowed him to fall to the floor, a trail of dark red followed him down._

_Her host's bright teeth glistened as she smiled. "This is gonna be fun."_

* * *

There's a lot of ways to piss off Dean Winchester. You can forget to bring him pie, you can mess with his baby, or you could shackle his hands and feet to a wall and plan to torture him. But the one thing that pisses him off to no end is doing the same to his brother.

His one weakness was also his strength. His whole being made for watching out for his baby brother. No matter the different hardships they endure, Sam will always be his brother, and Dean will never let him slip away.

Dean sure as hell wasn't weak by any means, but he did have one weak spot. And the bad guys know it.

Chained to a wall in some abandoned warehouse with Sam, who was developing a huge bump on his head that could even be seen from where Dean was standing, a few feet away from him. Out of reach.

"_Assess the situation, find out where you are, then you can figure a way out." _His father's instructions buzzed in his mind.

"_Okay, well, I'm in a warehouse. I know where Sam is, so once I get outta these we can just-_

"_Sari."_

His head whipped up in a frantic search for her. His panic filled eyes finally landed on a prone figure tied to a wooden chair a few yards in front of him.

"Sari!" Dean harshly whispered. "Sari, wake up!" Nothing. Dean turned his attention back to Sam, who had yet to move this whole time. "Sammy! Sam, c'mon!"

"Both still sleeping I'm afraid." An unexpected, but familiar voice explained. "The young ones can be," Molly's body slinked out from the shadows, and made her way over to Sam to toy with his hair. "So very fragile, don't you think?"

Dean yanked on his chains the second she had laid a finger on his baby brother. "You bitch! Get the hell away from him or I swear-"

"Swear what, hmm?" Her grip on Sam's hair tightened, and she turned his unconscious face towards Dean. "We wouldn't want to upset little Sammy, would we?" Her other hand groped along Sam's head until it came into contact with the lump she had created earlier. One of her fingers dug in the swollen bruise until Sam's face scrunched up pain, and his eyelids began to flutter open. Molly's hands dropped with an eager grin creeping up her rotting face.

Sam's unfocused eyes made their way to his brother. _"Concussion." _Dean figured.

"D'n? Wha' happ'ned?"

"_Yeah, definitely concussion." _"Not much, Sam." Dean said in that casual tone he always used, no matter how screwed they were. "Just some stupid demon bitch got the drop on us."

Molly's face feigned offense. "'Stupid?' Why, Dean, that hurts my feelings. Would a stupid demon really possess the dead just to draw you in?" She grinned and pulled out a knife as she sauntered over to Dean. "I mean, every single one of us wants to get in good with the new King."

"And killing us gets you a big fat Christmas bonus?" Dean rolled his eyes. "How original."

The demon shrugged nonchalantly. "May be a bit cliché, but c'mon. I had you guys in the palm of my hand this whole time. I got you idiots thinking zombies, so you really weren't prepped for demon, were you?"

Damn the bitch, but she was right. They hadn't come prepared for demon. They hadn't brought Ruby's knife, hell, they didn't even bring holy water.

Her grin widened. "Thought so. Although I wasn't expecting the twelve year old." She gestured the knife in Sari's direction. "I had no idea you guys were stupid enough to bring a kid with you. Or are you hunters just getting really desperate?"

Dean scowled. He hadn't wanted to bring her in on a zombie case, and now that he knew what they were up against, he hated himself even more for ever letting her come with them.

Pain suddenly erupted along Dean's cheek, interrupting his thoughts. The gleam of blood on the blade gave him a pretty good idea of what just happened. Too white teeth flashed a smile on decaying lips.

"Pay attention, Dean. I'm just starting to have fun."

"L-l've 'im 'lone…" Sam's weak voice commanded.

Molly stared into Dean's eyes, taunting him with her next words. "Don't worry, Sammy. You'll get your turn, too."

Past the cut on his cheek, Dean glared as his lip twitched in anger. "If you're gonna draw this out like I think you are, would it kill you to switch to a fresher meatsuit? I really don't want the last thing I smell to be a dead chick."

The demon sighed, but Dean could still see the sneer in her eyes. "It's not ideal, I know, but I'm not seeing a whole lot of other options. Well…" Her smirk was on her mouth this time as she turned to look back at Sari, still unmoving.

Dean couldn't help how his eyes widened in fear. "You leave her out of this."

"Right, right." Her cold hands traced around Dean's cheek. "More important things to do." An icy finger forced its way into the gash. She brought the bloodied finger to her mouth and sucked it clean. The smile that Dean was really getting sick of returned.

In a flash her warm, putrid breath filled Dean's nostrils, as her face went right up against his own. A hot tongue began licking the cut, and Dean growled in disgust.

Hunter instincts finally kicking in Dean pulled his head back and then jerked it forward, head-butting her, causing Molly to stumble backwards.

For the first time, her cockiness faded and transformed in blinding rage. "You don't want to play? Fine." She spat through gritted teeth. "Guess I'll just have to entertain your brother instead."

Before Dean could protest the slightest bit, he saw the flick of the knife. Not a second later Dean heard Sam scream as the blade buried itself, hilt deep, in his shoulder. The pain seemed to bring him into full consciousness.

Hearing Sam scream in pain wasn't a sound Dean could ever get used to. He only screamed when he was in great agony, and Dean couldn't stand to listen to it. "Sammy!"

Sam swore through clenched teeth. "God!"

Dean thought he saw movement from Sari's direction. When his eyes wandered to investigate he saw her frantically, but quietly working at the bonds holding her to her chair. She lifted to give him a reassuring nod, but it didn't make him feel any better at all.

Still positioned beside Dean, the demon raised a hand and began twisting it. The knife lodged in Sam's shoulder started to do the same, with sickening squelches as the blade ripped through skin and muscle.

Dean could see how hard Sam was trying to hide his pain, but his frantic gasps, borderline sobs, cut him just as deep if Sam would have been screaming.

"Leave him alone, you bitch!" Dean shouted. As he was about to yell some more, there was an invisible pressure on his throat. He struggled to pull in a breath as the demon curled its other hand into a fist.

"Shh." Molly hushed. "I want to hear Sammy scream right now." Her hand jerked, and so did the knife. Sam's shout was short, but the agony behind it was apparent to everyone, especially Dean.

Just as Dean's vision started to darken from the lack of oxygen, the demon coughed, and the pressure lessened. Molly shook her head and re-curled her fist when she coughed again, only this time it was more like a wretch and Dean swore he saw a puff of black smoke attempt to creep its way out of her mouth.

Dean turned to Sam, fearful to see him using his psychic mojo again, but Sam was barely hanging onto to consciousness. When he looked at Dean, he was just as bewildered.

Their heads turned back to the hacking demon and behind her, holding out one hand was- no.

"Sari?" Dean dared to ask in a voice barely audible, as though saying it quietly might allow it not to be true.

Blood had begun trickling down Sari's nose and the hand she wasn't holding out was clutching her sweat glistening forehead.

Sari's gaze drifted from the demon over to Dean. When she saw the hurt, anger, or betrayal, she wasn't really sure which, in Dean's eyes, she lowered her trembling hand.

Molly looked at all three of them as she caught her breath, a mix of emotions on her stolen face. "I can see you have a few things to talk about." With that, black smoke rushed from Molly's body, which then crumpled to the floor as the demon left.

Sari made her way over to Dean, guilt overtaking her entire face. As she reached to undo his shackles, she started, "Dean, I-"

"What. The hell. Was that?!" Dean shouted, not bothering to thank her for releasing him from his chains. He rushed to Sam's side and undid his chains, the knife still sticking out of his shoulder.

"I told you I read the books. Didn't take a genius to figure out how Sam did all his mind exorcising. I mean, it's how he got his powers in the first place."

Dean felt Sam wearily shake his head and speak. "D-demon blood? You-you've been drinking demon blood?"

"It saved your asses didn't it?"

If Dean wasn't the only thing keeping Sam vertical right now, he would have gotten right in her face. "Do you not remember what happened to Sam with the demon blood?!" Normally he wouldn't have been so blunt about it, but there was no way to be gentle right now.

"It works though. I just pull demons and that's it, okay?"

"No!" Dean yelled. "This is far from okay!"

"Listen, Dean. I didn't have any other options. Not after-" Her rage vanished in an instant.

"After what?" Dean spat, still in disbelief.

"After they killed my family!" She shouted with tears beginning to fill her eyes. "I lied about them, okay? My mother and Richie are dead, and it's my fault! I made a mistake a while back, and a demon escaped. First place it went was my house. I had to bury my brother. You two of all people should understand how broken that left me. I swore to never go through that again, by any means necessary."

"That is so sad." A female voice mocked. Everyone's head whipped towards it, Sam's moving the slowest. A woman blocked the exit of the warehouse, arms crossed over her chest, and black eyes shimmering.

"Molly?" Dean growled.

"Not technically, but yes. Did you boys miss me? I hope I'm not interrupting anything, I just brought something for the girl with the guts to try and exorcise me."

The only warning was a flash of silver, then there was a gasp from Sari's direction, as a knife landed in her stomach, and she fell to her knees.

"Sari!" Sam and Dean shouted in unison.

As if nothing had happened, Molly continued speaking. "Figured I couldn't kill you boys today, so how about I just leave you dead inside instead?" She grinned one final time and the smoke poured from her new host's body.

Quickly as he could with Sam draped around him, Dean hurried to Saris side, blood pooling out of her gut.

"Th-think," Sari gurgled. "I mi-might wanna retire 'fter th-this." She tried to smile despite the blood dripping past her lips. She even attempted to laugh, but it turned to a series of coughs accompanied with more blood spilling. Her eyes started to drift closed.

"Sari!" Dean shouted in attempt to bring her attention back to him. Her glassy eyes opened and met his.

"Sari," Sam said in a voice only a little stronger than her's. "We-we had a deal remember? And- and Dean was gonna teach you how to cover your tracks. We still can, okay? You- you just gotta stay with us." His voice had begun shaking, from worry or blood loss he didn't really know.

Sari let out a chuckle. "It- it's fine guys. 'm gonna see my f'mily 'gain. D-Dean?"

"Yeah, Sari?"

"I- 'm sorry… B-bout lying t'you."

Dean saw her slipping and put a hand at the back of her head to keep her up. "Hey, hey, hey, I can lecture you later alright? We're gonna get you patched up, okay?"

Her face went back to the sweet innocent expression she had the first time they had met. Her eyes became wet with tears as she shook her head. "I- 'm 'kay. 'm gonna be okay. Do-" Her breath hitched. "Do you think my nightmares will be over now?"

Dean nodded with a sad smile. "Yeah, I really think they will."

She smiled one last time before all signs of life left her, and she exhaled her final breath.

_Epilogue._

The salt and burn of Sari's body was silent. Neither one of the brothers said a word, what words could have been said? Too many emotions were wrapped up in what had first seemed so simple. It became the case they never talked about. A young girl got involved with what she couldn't hope to understand, with good intentions; the quickest route to Hell.

* * *

I know how much some of you either hate Sari or me (probably me) at this point, but I'm proud of this. This is exactly where the story was headed the whole time, and I loved writing it. If you have the time, I'd love to hear what you thought. Carry on my wayward sons!


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